Inspirational Quotes by Antoine Arnauld (French Theologian)

Antoine Arnauld (1612–94,) byname “The Great Arnauld,” was a French philosopher, lawyer, mathematician, and priest. He was the leader of Jansenism, a Roman Catholic movement that held heretical doctrines on the nature of the free will, predestination, and grace.

Born in Brussels, Spanish Netherlands, now in Belgium, Arnauld studied theology at the Sorbonne in Paris and, in 1641, was installed into the Roman Catholic ministry. Under the influence of the abbot of Saint-Cyran, Arnauld published his treatise De la fréquente communion (1643; “On Frequent Communion,”) justifying Jansenist views on the Eucharist and penance.

Arnauld was regarded as foremost among the mathematicians of his time, and he was admired as a master of complex reasoning. His attacks on the Jesuits, including his Théologie morale des Jésuites (1643; “Moral Theology of the Jesuits.”) His activities as head of the Jansenist sect in France led to his expulsion from the Sorbonne, persecution, and ultimate refuge in Belgium.

While at Port-Royal de Paris, where there was a Jansenist community, he collaborated with Blaise Pascal and Pierre Nicole (1625–95) on the work known as the Port-Royal Logic (1662.) During the great persecution of the Jansenists (1661–69,) Arnauld emerged as a resistance leader.

Arnauld later wrote against the Calvinists and on subjects disputed between Protestants and Roman Catholics. In 1679, when the persecution of Jansenists recommenced, Arnauld sought refuge in the Netherlands and then in Belgium. He settled permanently in Brussels in 1682, where he was to remain in voluntary exile until his death. He also continued his attack on the Jesuit casuists in six more volumes of Morale pratique des Jésuistes (1689–94.)

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